


Gangsters Of Magic

by Anastasian_Dreamer



Category: Gangsters in Love (Visual Novel), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Gender Identity, Gender Roles, Ginny is confused, Harry Potter was Raised by Other(s), Harry has a companion animal, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Major AU, Mentions of neglect, Misguided Albus Dumbledore, Mix Race Harry, Multi, Panic Attacks, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-08-24 06:49:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16634966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anastasian_Dreamer/pseuds/Anastasian_Dreamer
Summary: When Harry's Treatment at the hands of his relatives is uncovered on his fifth birthday, so is a distant maternal relative. They live happily in Los Angeles until Martha Candice O'Reilly is suddenly targeted by gangs due to her now missing parents. Gangsters and Magic and Romance! Oh, my! Can Harry hold on to his new mother while also attending school in a magical world at war? Or will he lose her too?





	1. Harry Potter and The Ways of LA: Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters with specific triggers will be marked at the top of the chapter. Story Co-Planned and Beta'ed by Musicfeedsmysoul12 on Tumblr.

**_Warning! This chapter contains scenes and/or discussions of the physical and verbal abuse and neglect of children._ **

It was late when Uncle got home after work. Freak knew he would be in trouble tonight. If Uncle was late, that meant he would smell funny and not hold himself back. He curled up on himself like the little beetles and sleeping spiders in the corners of his room. The child had a really bad feeling about tonight, though. The smell was worse than normal, and he could hear Dudley crying at Uncle. He curled up tighter when his door started rattling and Uncle appeared.

Little Harry Potter thought he knew what was going to happen that night. It wasn’t the first time that Vernon Dursley went home drunk after a night out with his coworkers. Vernon, however, got home a little more drunk than usual. Vernon wouldn’t remember what he did come morning. All he would know was that Harry was gone, a spot of blood was on the floor in the hall, and his wife and son had bruises on their arms. They wouldn’t find out the truth for two days.

Harry had been running all night. He really wasn’t sure what happened after Uncle had thrown him outside. He had suddenly felt really scared and wanted to run, so he did. Harry ran, and wished that he could get away faster, and then the world started getting blurry. He didn’t know where he was, but he was so very tired. The over-thin boy sat on a bench that was much more comfy than his little room and started nodding off. He eventually lay down on the bench and fell asleep.

Mike, a retired police chief, walked outside for his morning walk. It was a bit cloudy, but it wasn’t going to stop him. He went on a drug raid in a thunderstorm once. When he was about halfway through his run, a point where he would stop and take a rest, he saw something that nearly broke his heart.

A little boy, looking only 3 or 4 years old, was asleep on a bench all alone in the cold March dawn. The child’s cloths were ragged and overlarge. His shoes seemed due for their own retirement. Bathing the child looked like it was left as a third place thought. The poor kid had clearly been suffering.

Mike couldn’t take seeing such a tiny boy like this and walked closer, praying that the kid was still alive. A touch to the boy’s pulse point told the man that he was, but the kid was freezing. He needed to get warm soon, or Mike would be attending another funeral-come-too-soon.

Mike put a gentle hand on a shoulder and shook it. “Hey, kiddo, it’s time to get up.”

There was a slight shifting before the boy moaned. “No get up, Dada.” It was slurred.

“Come on, wake up.” Mike said.

Small breaths came out slow and shallow and Mike knew the kid needed help. Lucky for the boy, Mike lived not too far from the hospital. Lucky also, Mike was very fit for his ripe old age of 73. He took off his jacket and lifted the boy up in a sort of hugging position, putting the jacket around the kid.

As he was jogging to the hospital, trying to keep the kid awake, Mike noticed that the little boy was very light and thin to the point of being boney. He was very worried and glad when he got to the emergency entrance to the hospital.

Mike would end up staying there until a nurse gave him news that the boy would be ok, by which point he had given his statement to a policeman and requested that he get an update. That afternoon, he would get a call. One of his old subordinates would call to say that five year old Harry Potter was recovering very quickly and had become an abuse case for child services. The next day, he would hear that Harry had little hope of staying out of the system due to a lack of relatives. There was a ‘good family friend’ with an admittedly creepy interest in the boy’s placement, however. Mike would never admit the level of satisfaction he took from hearing that the stranger had been surprised and angry at being denied what they wanted.

Mike did have a slight issue though. Harry was going to get put in foster care. It was a harsh system, he knew. Mike had grown up in it himself. Mike took all of 30 minutes to decide that he would look up relatives for young Harry. If Mike didn’t find any, well then, Mike was going to be a father.

It would be a day and a half of endless investigating before Mike put a call in to Los Angeles, USA. Apparently Harry had a second cousin there named Martha Candice O’Reilly. Good. At least the boy had something, and, who knows, maybe Miss O’Reilly would let Mike stay in contact. 

 

Half a world away, Miss O’Reilly was home alone. She still lived with her parents in spite of being 20 years old. Her parents, however, were out of town on business. It had always been that way, her parents away for days on end. It was normal for her. She had sitters and nannies until she was 12, at that point she was allowed to be on her own.

She expected today to be like every other when she woke up that morning. It wasn’t. She got a long distance call from London. Picking up the phone, she wasn’t sure what to expect. She was still surprised at the ensuing conversation.

“Hello?” She said.

“Hello. Is this Martha Candice O’Reilly?” An elderly man’s voice asked.

“Yes. It is. Who is this?”

“My name is Michael Davies. Miss O’Reilly, this is going to sound like an odd question, but is your mother a British woman with the maiden name Evans?”

“Yes, she is. Can I assume you found me on Ancestry, Mr. Davies?”

“As a matter of fact, I did. I recently came across a young boy and got him out of a bad situation. Due to recent events, he’s in need of a new guardian or he’ll be put into foster care.”

“You were wondering if I would be willing to take custody of him.”

“Yes, Miss. I was. You’re the only living relative I could find that also has a stable home situation.”

“How old is this boy? And how is he related to me?”

After a long talk to verify everything, Miss Martha ‘call me Mary’ O’Reilly was on a video with British child services to arrange for her to get custody of one Harry James Potter.

 

A month later, all issues would be resolved and Harry would be in LA to live with, what he was told was, a new mom. Little Harry was so very happy that he was getting a new family. He had a real name and now his rescuer, Mr. Mike, had found him a new mama too! He loved getting his first present on fifth birthday. It was such a wonderful present! 


	2. Harry Potter and The Ways of LA: Part Two

Mary had decided that she would have to get used to surprises. Six months ago, she gained a son named Harry, who she had already become deeply attached to. Just yesterday, she learned that her little boy was literally magical and had the magical equivalent to cancer. It was lucky, in the latter case, that a Native American Medicine Person approached her to explain the issue and fix it. She had been taking a walk with Harry when a man came up to them and said he was a Medicine Person and had an important topic to talk about with her. 

Mary hadn’t at first wanted to believe it- after all it was far fetched that he would suddenly walk up to her to say that. She was well aware of the tricks many conmen would try. Harry had then, however and rather bluntly, asked him if he had come to help him with his headaches. When the man said that he was, Mary offered to bring him to their house and have a talk there. Harry’s headaches were horrific things that caused him extreme pain she had noticed and while thanks to his relatives (people Mary was ashamed to be related to) he could work through them, they were horrific enough that Mary had taken him to a doctor three times but none of the medication worked for long.

When they got inside and started talking, the new mother was glad that her parents were out of town on a business trip. She was a firm believer in the supernatural. Her mother and father did not agree and only indulged her ‘silly dreams’. The Shaman proved her beliefs true, however, when he turned her coffee cup into a robin that flew and sang. 

“That is… very impressive,” Mary said to the man slowly while Harry gasped in pleasure.

“Thank you,” the man chuckled. Mary frowned and wanted to smack herself on her head.

“I am sorry, I never got your name?”

“Jared is my English name.” he replied, and Mary didn’t press for more as she nodded.

“So, Harry can do this one day?”

“Yes, though not for a while. Most schools do not allow students younger than eleven when magic is stable enough to be taught. As well, typically a child such as Harry- one raised in the… what is it English people call the mundane people… Muggles? There was that small group who called them NoMaj…” Jared frowned and stared at a wall. Mary coughed a little to draw his attention.

“Can you… explain his headaches?” Mary asked and Jared nodded.

“Somewhat. Curse scars are left over from a horrific event caused by very dark magic. Whatever the mark is upon his head, it radiates dark magic and is causing him pain.” Mary clutched Harry’s hand as the little boy frowned.

“My aunt and uncle said it was caused by a car crash…” Harry said.

“It is leaking dark magic young man. Perhaps your relatives were told it was a car crash and they believed it.” Jared shrugged. “I can remove it.”

“Why would you offer to simply remove it?” Mary asked.

“He is a young child and I do not wish for him to be harmed by having the magic stain his soul. It can cause irreversible damage to him in the long run.” Jared said. “As well, I have never seen such dark magic and worry over what it could be.”

“Is there a way to remove it?” Mary asked.

“Yes.” Jared agreed. “I can remove it now if you wish.”

“Please.”

The ritual took little time, something Mary was thankful for as she watched Jared speak a language she didn’t understand, Harry sitting in front of him as Jared worked. 

While it was quick though, Mary could feel the energy pour from Harry as he cried out, tears rolling down his face while Jared worked. When it was over, Harry was passed out and Jared had nearly fallen on his face.

After checking on Harry, she instructed Jared to stay the night, sleeping on the couch herself. However he was gone the next morning without a trace and Harry’s scar was lighter. 

 

Six months after that, the two were celebrating Harry’s 6th birthday. They were at a park and Mary had a surprise for her son. It was a little after noon when a grey van pulled up and a young woman stepped out. Mary caught her eye, making the stranger grin and wink as she got something out of the backseat. 

“Harry,” the mother called to her son as he ran around, “I have a surprise for you!” 

“Coming, Mama.” Harry dashed over, bouncing on his toes. “What’s my surprise?” 

Mary pointed at the lady as she walked up to them. “I’m fairly certain that she means my friend here.” She said. 

Harry gasped, looking at his Mama with wide eyes. “Really, Mama? I get a dog?” 

“Yes, sweet pea.” Mary watched as her little boy took the leash of the Harlequin Great Dane that she adopted. As she signed the papers that made it official, the dog handler told Harry about Seymour. Mary already knew what the excited dog could do. She had made sure that the dog she got for her and her son could protect them. Seymour had been trained as a guard dog and as a therapy dog. He could protect Harry and help with his nightmares. 

Oh, those nightmares were terrible. She was glad that Harry agreed to sleep with her in her room. When he woke up from a nightmare, he was always in the middle of a panic attack, crying about green lights and his birth parents and ‘Uncle’. 

She spoke to a child psychologist once about the nightmares and panic attacks that Harry never remembered. They had told her that it was likely that Harry remembered the night Lily and her husband had died and that it had been linked to Vernon’s abuse in his head. 

She had decided to get a therapy dog for Harry, even though the psychologist said that they wanted to see him. She couldn’t afford the sessions, even if she took a job for herself. She wanted to help Harry, but it all came down to her often absentee parents. 

Not that she was bitter about it! No! She understood why they were away so much. They worked hard to give her every opportunity, and she was grateful. She wanted for little as a child, and Harry would want for little either. She really did love her parents. 

Mary was unaware that she was losing the smile she worked hard to keep on for Harry, lost in thought as she was. Harry knew that it was troublesome to just take in a child like his new Mama did. He loved that she took him in and was trying to help him. If only she would smile for real. 

“Hey, Mama?” Harry said as he played with Seymour with a rope toy. “Can I have one more birthday wish?” 

Mary took a breath and blinked as she came back to reality, her smile reappearing. “What is it, sweet pea?” 

Harry pulled Seymour, who stopped playing, close to him. “I like Seymour. I want to keep him, but can we have a human friend? Someone that can make us both laugh for real?” 

Mary’s mouth fell open, eyes wide as she tried to figure out a response to that. She was shaken at her little boy, her precious baby, seeing her so clearly. Even her parents, the few times that they had been around in the past year, hadn’t noticed her stress. How had he seen? She had tried so hard to hide it. It even worked for the gossipy neighbors that saw everything and theorized the rest. However, it didn’t work for one little six-year-old boy. 

For a moment, her heart ached and she wasn’t certain what to say to her son.

 

A few hundred miles away, two redheaded twins traded very nervous looks as they stared at the very, very large crater in the yard.

“Uh… George?” One said, standing close to the edge to peek inside the hole. 

“Yeah, Fred?” 

“I think maybe we should run.”

“Excellent idea my dear brother.” 

They turned and, in a level of synchronicity that would put computers to shame, locked eyes on the same small, distant gazebo and vanished with a pop. Accidental magic tended to be random but thanks to long experimentation they knew that a fair bit was intent based. As such, wanting to get away would work. Of course… they didn’t say how far away.

They ended up landing behind/half on top of a bush about a hundred more feet away. They were just in time to hear a young boy speaking with his mother. 

“Hey, Mama?” the boy said as he played with his dog with a rope toy. “Can I have one more birthday wish?” 

The woman took a breath and turned to her son, her smile reappearing. “What is it, sweet pea?” 

The boy pulled his dog, who had stopped playing, close to him. “I like Seymour. I want to keep him, but can we have a human friend? Someone that can make us both laugh for real?” 

The woman seemed to freeze, shock and heartache flickering with stress in her eyes. It was the ensuing long pause that allowed the twins a moment to decide. A glance at each other told them that they were still in sync. A mother was hurting, a son noticed and wanted smiles. That was exactly what they were good at. 

The two redheads scrambled up and out of the bush, brushing off before jumping out with giant grins. 

“Sounds like our signal, brother mine!” Fred piped up, seeming to startle the small family. 

“It certainly does, brother dear.” George slung an arm around his twin, hiding a prank in the now hidden hand. 

“Shall we?” 

“We shall!” 

Young as they were, they failed to remember their lessons about secrecy in foreign countries. Fred drops his prank bomb, letting pink smoke cover them as George throws out his own bomb that has various sparkles and lights placed inside. Then they whispered a spell, gathering the lights to form a dog that jumped and ran in a circle before the whole thing disappeared. 

Mary just held back a gasp. These were magical kids, and it was lucky that her and Harry already knew about Magic.  

Harry giggled in delight. “You guys are magic too!” 

“That we are, my fine young friend.” 

“Now, on to our mission to make your mother laugh!” 

Oh dear! These two were pranksters! Mary was about to say something when suddenly the two yelped. 

“Wait… magic! Uh no!”

“Of course not we-” the traded looks and Mary could help the snort she let out, covering her mouth.

“You missed a word in his sentence.” she said. “We're magic, too. At least, my son is.” 

“Oh, good.” Both twins looked relieved that this and their shoulders slumped before perking up. 

“On to laughter!”

They bounced over to Mary and she tried to hold a smile down, suspicious about why they were so close to her. 

“Fair, miss,” one said. 

“Would you like a drink?” Said the other, holding out a little vile of light blue-ish liquid. 

“So long as it only lasts a little while.” Mary said, taking the vial and downing it. 

She breathed out a pink puff of steam, making Harry giggle and her curious. She went to open her mouth to speak, but when she did…

“Quack!” A hand shot to her throat, surprise making her head tilt. She tried to speak again. “Quack! Quack!” 

Harry doubled over in laughter, the twins following suit. Mary could even swear that the dog was laughing with the way he huffed. She kept trying, if only to keep Harry laughing so happily like he was. To be honest, some of her quacking was laughter. 

It was a few minutes before the quacking stopped and the laughter settled to the occasion giggle. She, by that point, was grinning honestly. 

“Alright, that was funny.” Mary said. “Thank you boys.” 

“Not a problem, miss!” the red-headed pranksters said. 

Now that she got a real look at them, and a good listen, she realized that they were a little ragged, a little dusty. They were also sounded a lot like her son’s fading accent. That didn’t bode well with the fact that they barely looked ten. 

“So,” she leaned forward, putting her newly practiced ‘mom look’ to the test, “What are two mischievous young british boys like you doing in suburban LA?” 

“Uh-oh…” the slightly smaller of the two slid behind his brother. 

“Busted…” They both looked down, almost cowering. 

“Maybe they're like me?” Harry put in, flipping emerald eyes between his mother and the twins. 

Mary sighed. “I won’t ask if you ran away, or why if you did. I had friends that ran away from home for good reasons. My son ran from his previous guardians as well.” 

The twins glance at each other, seeming to communicate before asking, “Could we stick around with you?” 

Mary smiled softly, knowing that she had room since her parents were due to be away for the next two months. If no one looked for them by then, or their home wasn’t suitable, she would figure something out. 

 

It would end up that the family of the twins was actually a very warm and loving family, if large and poor. The reason that the twins ran off was because their mother was a bit overbearing in terms of her care for her children. Even having five other children had done little to calm motherly instinct, which was made worse with the fact unlike her elder children, the twins were rather rambunctious and a pair of pranksters. While there truly was nothing wrong with it, even Molly- their mother- herself agreed, she could not withhold her annoyance at the two when they were a little to disruptive. It lead to the two, much like many other young children, running away after a scolding about them pranking their younger brother Ronald who cried during said prank. Upon learning this, Mary impressed upon the twins that while she understood their anger she did not agree that a prank that made a young child cry was funny, something the twins had to stop and think about. When they finally told her who their family was, Mary got in touch with the mother and father at the end of that summer. It was a very emotional talk as she had been incredibly worried and when she saw her twins she refused to let them out of her sight for days. Their father was much the same. However, with so many children in the family, it couldn't continue and the twins would end up acting out again, this they all knew. When Mary saw how happy Harry was with the twins, and even with little Ron and the younger sister Ginny when the Weasley family all came over to her house- after setting up a floo system thanks to the father, Arthur, being part of the government- she made a decision. Harry was homeschooled due to his panic attacks and occasional accidental magic and most of the other children in the neighbourhood disliked him. So Marry offedered to house the boys as a sort of summer job. They would only stay the last few weeks of summer. While staying with her, they would help her with what she needed and in return, the Weasleys would keep her up to date with the wizarding world. 

It was a good deal that saw Mary Catherine O’Reilly and Harry James Potter getting effectively adopted into the British magical family. Harry was excited to learn magic from the family and enjoyed the various new things he learned. He became very close with the twins and with Ron on the few occasions Ron came over, something Mary agreed to because while the twins were good friends, they were a little older than Harry and she hoped for Harry to have a friend when he went to school- after she had learned Hogwarts was the best magical school and given Harry was British born, would be allowed to go. With the Weasley family, they also learned of the terrible war that shook the nation, all ended by a little boy they called the Boy-Who-Lived, who earned a lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

Mary never spoke a single word about the scar that had once been on her son’s forehead before the Medicine Man had removed it. Truly, she feared they would take him away or treat him differently, thus she kept quiet.

Each family would also have an emergency system setup and child locks put in place on the floo so no child would end up at the others house unless agreed upon. If the worst happened, each family would evacuate to the other one’s home and go from there. The child locks would stay in place unless a specific ward was triggered by the parent, unlocking the floo for the kids and setting off an alarm on the other side. 

 

Life would be good for them for three happy years, with summers spent with the twins, and with holidays spent as a big bunch, the Weasley family all inviting Mary and Harry over when they learned that her parents were gone for Christmas and having insisted they come over that first year, and with Mary jokingly inviting them for Thanksgiving one year only for them to accept. With the weather in LA, Molly still made sweaters that were charmed to not be too hot. Little Ginny fell in love with baseball one year and Ronald ended up winning a junior chess championship while the twins just had fun. The older siblings, Percy, Bill and Charlie, all enjoyed the trips to the Muggle World- something Arthur himself adored to pieces. It was a very fun few years, and Mary was very content with the routine her life had become, a routine that held steady...

Until Mary’s parents went on a surprise anniversary vacation after Harry turned 9. 


	3. Harry Potter and The Ways of LA: Part Three

“You ready for the twins to arrive, Harry?” Mary said. 

“Yeah. I made a whole plan for what we can do together!” Harry said as he finished up with his schoolwork in the dining room. 

“Oh, really?” Mary, in the kitchen making dinner, glanced at Harry. She knew what Harry, likely had planned. The twins would be with them for the whole summer due to the rest of the family going to Egypt to see the oldest son, William. William had gotten promotion, so it would be less fun than a vacation implied. The twins had begged to not go, and Molly had allowed it so long as Mary was ok with keeping them. When Mary agreed, she could tell that the overworked mother was grateful, especially since Ginny came over for ‘reading help’ with a box of Molly’s famous brownies the next day. 

The twin pranksters were due to come through the floo at about 10 pm. Meaning, it was six am their time. Molly had, much to her displeasure, used a spell to keep them awake all night so they would sleep when they got here. Mary hadn’t wanted to use the spell when Molly brought it up, but there was really no easier way to adjust them to the time zone. Mary was expecting Harry and the twins to crash as soon as they got to the room. 

Seymour was laying under Harry’s swinging feet as Mary started dinner. It was supposed to be calm until the twins showed up, but Seymour started growling at the door. Mary hustled Harry and Seymour to her bedroom closet, pulling the rolling bookcase in front of it. She ran back out, only just managing to turn the stove off before-

**_CRA-CASH!!_ **

That’s when the door broke down. Mary grabbed a bat that she had pinned between the stove and fridge. Men flooded into the room. 

“Get her!” One, seemingly the leader, yelled at the others. 

She swung at him, but a lucky bullet shot the bat from her hand. It left her open long enough for one of the others to pin her to the ground. 

The leader knelt by her and forced her head up. “Where are your parents, brat?” She didn’t speak, not that she knew the answer. “Trash the place.” 

There was crashing throughout the house, but no barking from Seymour and no shots. They hadn’t found Harry, even while trashing the house. Good. 

“Nothing boss. They aren’t here.” 

The boss gripped her jaw tighter. “Where are they?” He growled. 

Mary pulled out of his grasp. “Their plane tickets said Cancun,” she lied, “but they were still debating where to go for an anniversary trip as they left.” 

She hadn’t actually seen the tickets, but she knew that her parents hated Cancun when they went. They had agreed not to go again and Mary didn’t ask why. 

He stared at her. “I guess your useless then.” He pulled a gun and aimed it at her after standing. 

She saw the hammer pull back, and then…

**_Cra-kow!_ **

The man crumpled, clutching a bleeding hand to his chest. Mary used the moment of surprise to flip the man pinning her down and get out of the way, rising to turn to her supposed rescuer. 

It was a tall man, about her age, maybe a few years younger. He wore a nice blue and gold suit, holding a pistol out. 

“I suggest you stay there and out of my way.” He says scornfully. 

Mary narrowed her eyes, not sure if this was another bad guy or not. 

“Chance Valentine!” one of the other men yells, “We should have known you would show up, you patheti-” 

Another man barrels through the door, a blur of black and red among the dark chaos. “I got this one!” 

Mary used the distraction to grab the bat from the floor, one side of it splintered from the bullet. She wasn’t sure what to do beyond get Harry out and lock the Floo so the twins wouldn’t come in during the mess. She wasn’t even sure how to get that done with all the people. 

“Watch it, Yoshimitsu!” Chance called, shooting the remaining guys. 

Yoshimitsu swung a sword, cutting into the man’s forearm before slamming the handle into his head. The man crumpled. 

“I thought I told you to take care of the ones outside.” Chance said, walking to block Mary’s way to the fireplace, not that the man knew it was a key location in the house. 

“I did,” Yoshimitsu said with an easy grin, “and then I got bored. Besides, I prefer being up close and personal when getting the job done.” 

Chance scowled as Yoshimitsu swung his sword with a flourish. “It is a literal miracle no one has shot you yet.” 

“It’s a miracle no one has smacked the smartass out of you yet.” 

Mary had to bite her tongue on her reflexive response to the foul language. Her attempt to hold her tongue left her able to unwillingly draw up in surprise when Yoshimitsu gave her a considering once over. 

“Hey, there.” He said, “Isn’t this a fun way to end a party?” 

Mary snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yes, it was positively killer.” She drawled, her sarcasm leaking out with the adrenaline. 

Yoshimitsu’s smile widened at that, while Chance just scowled more. “Just stay quiet unless spoken to, and keep out of the way.” 

Yoshimitsu slid the sword into a holder on his back. “Easy Chance. She might be helpful if we’re nice.” 

Mary gave him a flat look, taking in the red-dyed mohawk on the man that looked like an Asian version of Chance. 

“Well, nicer, at least.” Yoshimitsu shrugged with an easy grin, walking closer to her. “After all, this is the other one we found in the photo they dropped.” 

Much to Mary’s horror and unexplained anger, he pulled out a picture of Mary and her parents on her 10th birthday. They had taken her to  Disneyland. In the photo, her parents were circled in red, a question mark written next to her. 

“What do you want?” Mary asked, suspiciously. 

“We don’t  _ want _ anything,” Chance said, “but you will be coming with us.” 

The way he said it made her think that it wasn’t a request. She had no choice in the matter. She would be going with them, willing or not. 

What about Harry, though? The twins were due any minute, too. She felt a brief moment of panic before her logic reminded her that she had drilled the twins in what to do about Harry’s attacks and if they arrive to trouble. They had safe routes and hiding spots that they were meant to bunker down in until she or the police found them. 

She apparently took to long, because Chance grabbed her arm to drag her outside. “Ah! Hey, hands off, hot shot!” 

Chance let her go, allowing her to walk out on her own. When they got outside, she saw two unfamiliar cars next to hers. One, a black van, she assumed belonged to the other gang. 

“Hey, Ash. Thanks for the back up.” Yoshimitsu said snappishly. 

Another tall man, Ash, stood leaning on a sleek, black Crown Victoria, giving Mary the impression that crime really did pay, and it paid well. 

Mary was glad that the kids weren’t with her, because Ash pulled a gun and shot at them faster than she could even blink. 

Behind them, a man fell dead. One of the other gang members had gotten back up to surprise them. 

“You missed one.” Ash smirked. 

There was a pause before Yoshimitsu said, “That’s why we have you, to clean up our messes.” 

Before anyone can say more, Mary spots another van with armed men hanging out the side doors. She felt her knees get kicked out and a hand shove her into the open back seat. 

“We don’t have time for coddling.” Chance says. “Ash, go.” 

The boys pile in, Chance in the back with her, and Mary spots something through her window that calms her nerves a bit before they shoot off. 

A spark of green reflects from the living room window, and she can feel the Emergency Lockdown Ward trigger as she gets farther away. The twins have arrived. 

 

Mary takes a breath, ducking her head to hide a flicker of a relieved smile. 

“You alright, miss?” Ash’s voice sounds from the driver’s seat, making her look back up. 

“I’m fine,” she says. “just stressed.” 

“I would expect so.” Chance says. “It’s not everyday a weak little civilian girl learns that her parents are wanted by gangs.” 

Mary shoots a cold glare at the backhanded insult. Getting classism and sexism from one comment was not a good impression in her book. “You had better fix your attitude,  _ boy _ , and hope that the others make a better first impression.” She sneered, fed up with his type. “I’m not inclined to be cooperative with  _ your _ attitude.” 

Yoshimitsu let out a long whistle. “Damn, girl’s on fire. What’s got you so pissy?” 

She kept her eyes locked with Chance’s, speaking slowly for sake of clarity. “I despise sexist bullies. Especially ones that play at leader.” 

Chance narrowed his eyes at her, but didn’t move or say anything. Whether it was for lack of room or lack of privacy, Mary didn’t know. Perhaps she shouldn’t provoke him as she was. It was asking for trouble and she had kids to think of. 

She felt that she had a right to be a little salty, though. She just wasn’t sure who she was angrier with, her parents for abandoning her or herself not listening. Molly had warn her. 

 

It was hours later that the car pulled into the driveway of a seaside mansion. The estate was large, big enough to build a golf course or graze cattle. Mary idly wondered what the kids would think. She huffed quietly, knowing that they would never come inside. They loved the outdoors. 

“Did one of you leave the front doors open?” Ash asked as they piled out. 

“Must’ve been Aurora.” Yoshimitsu asked. “You’d think she’d be more careful with how tightly she holds her money.” 

“Money?” Mary tipped her head to the side. “What, is she the boss or something?” 

The boys chuckled as they went inside. 

“No.” Chance says. “No one is the boss of me.” He seems smug, like that statement alone made him far superior to her. 

Mary was not about to have that. She gave him a once over and snuffed as though unimpressed. Her next word was spoken with an air of ‘you need it’. 

“Clearly.” She strides inside, following Ash, with a grace and confidence that she didn’t feel. 

All she could think of were the three children currently trapped in her home with the dead/injured gangsters strewn about. When she comes back to reality, she finds herself in a private casino that contains a minibar. 

“So,” Yoshimitsu says as he flops down on a sofa, “what now?” 

“Now,” Chance says, “we wait for the others so we can decide what to do with her.” 

Before Mary can respond, a melodic voice echoes from the door. “Hello~. Home already Chance?” A woman enters, dressed just as sharply as the boys. 

“Aurora,” Ash, seated at the bar, said, “you left the front door wide open.” 

Aurora snorted. “Fine, let’s say that some lucky thief manages to make it all the way in here without knowing who this area belongs to. ” Aurora flips the side of her coat open. “They make it all the way inside and then…” 

Mary glances at the glint of silver, catching Aurora’s attention. “Oh, don’t worry, honey. Looking is free.” 

Seeing that Chance didn’t approve, Mary gave her a proper once over and said. “Might just pay the fee sometime.” 

Aurora grinned, but before she could respond, Chance cut in. “Hands off, Aurora. She’s not a plaything, yours or Yoshimitsu’s.” 

“That’s right.” Another voice comes from the door, causing Mary to turn around to see Irving Monroe, the celebrity lawyer. 

“Ok, I know lawyers are supposed to be evil and all, but this is just ridiculous.” Mary said with a raised eyebrow. 

Aurora and Yoshimitsu laughed and Irving smiled. “Yes. Back on topic, however. You are Martha Catherine O'Reilly, only child of Amanda and David O’Reilly. You are 28 years old, Associate's Degree in Business, single, no kids. Over all, you are a nice local girl.” 

Mary didn’t move beyond a suddenly pole straight back. If Irving Monroe thought she didn’t have kids, then Arthur’s quiet manipulations worked. No one knew where Harry was beyond ‘safe’. She wouldn’t expose that secret. She didn’t expect it to effect the Mundane records though. 

“Oh, really?” Aurora looked her over with a new interest. 

“Yes, so no touching.” Chance said. 

“She could touch me though…” Aurora was not let up, distracting Chance and the others just in time for Mary’s phone to buzz softly in her pocket. 

She slipped it into her hand and read the notification. It was a message from Harry. She opened her phone. 

_ Harry: The twins are here. They helped me and I fell asleep. My phone locked so they cleaned up. Stay safe, Mama. I love you.  _

Mary typed her response, a simple ‘ok stay safe’ and ‘i love you too’, but her wrist was caught in a vice-like grip before she could send it. She looked up to see Ash, cold eyes making her heart drop to her toes. He squeezed her wrist, forcing her hand to open and release her cell. 

“Ah! No!” Mary tried to grab her phone back with her other hand, but Ash shoved her away to land in the now standing Yoshimitsu’s arms. The swordsman locked his arms around her body, pinning her completely. “No!! Give that back!” 

Ash looked at the screen, reading the text aloud. He tossed the cell at Chance, shooting a glance at a surprised Irving. 

“She does have a son.” Chance said. 

Irving looked distinctly annoyed at this. “How did I not find records of that?” 

Mary couldn’t help the smug smirk growing on her lips. “My parents made powerful enemies, you said? I have powerful friends. Ones that you will never get ahold of, so long as I have a say.” 

Chance let out a low growl, stalking to her and grabbing her chin harshly. “We could always just use that boy of yours as blackmail for-” 

Chance never finished. As soon as Mary picked up on the threat to her son, she saw red and did the only thing she could in that moment. Her head flung down and teeth slightly sharper than should be natural clamped shut on the gang leader’s hand. Chance howled as Yoshimitsu and Aurora tried to make her let go. 

It took longer for them to get a 124 pound woman to relax her jaw than they would ever admit, but Mary eventually let Chance’s hand go, noticing that she had drawn a bit of blood. 

“Damn you, you motherfucking little bi-”

Mary, snarling and thrashing madly, spoke slowly for clarity, still pinned in Yoshimitsu’s arms. “Never ever threaten my son, you poor excuse of a boy.” 

“Ok.” Irving, seeing that Yoshimitsu was actually having problems keeping hold of the pink clad young woman, pushed Chance to the other side of the room with Ash, who had the first aid kit. “Let’s calm down and start this info trade over, shall we?” 

“I’m not helping you with a goddamn thing until my kids are safe.” Mary snapped, the entire night having pushed her to her limit. “You can damn well suffer as they do!” 

Ash, done with treating Chance’s hand, grabbed the cell from where it dropped on the floor. “Tell them to wait at the dining room table for me. I’ll go get them.” 

Mary paused her weakening attempts to escape, staring into forest colored eyes. A tense pause told Mary that he was being honest with his offer. “You won’t be able to get in without me there. The twins would have put the house on lockdown when they arrived to a mess and me missing.” 

“Who are these twins? I could always just break in, also.” Ash said. The others stayed quiet. 

Mary shook her head. “It’s not that kind of lockdown. The twins are friends of my son that are staying with me for the summer. They’re genius pranksters. Their version of a lockdown is an impassable amount of prank traps. Unless you feel like being hung by your feet covered in homemade tar and sleeping powder, I need to be there to assure them it’s ok.” 

“I’m sure he could handle what any child would throw at him,” Chance said angrily, glaring at Mary who glared right back.

“Why don’t we shove you through first then? I could definitely use the laugh.” she said. Chance scowled at her. 

Ash coughed. “How genius are they?”

“Put it this way. They managed to somehow get dye into their father’s coworker’s shampoo without going to the man’s house. They’re lucky he thought it was funny.” Mary said.  

Chance gave her another look. “Is there no way to send them back to their family?” he asked.

“None. Their parents are in Egypt for their eldest son’s promotion and they don’t have any relatives willing to take them.” Mary said, leaving the little fact that they lived in Britain as a secret. 

Chance glared at her and then nodded toward Ash and Yoshimitsu. “Go with her, make sure she only gets the kids.”

“My son has panic attacks and has a service dog for them.” Mary said. 

Ash seemed to almost perk up at that as Chance scowled at her. “And the dog.” 

Yoshimitsu let the young mother go now that she was calm-ish. She wasn’t trying to attack Chance at least. 

Mary stood straight, fixing her clothes before turning to the door. “By the way, I know you’ll probably demand I have minders for me and my kids, so I pick Chance and Ash.” 

“Two?” Irving asked. 

“One for me and one for my kids and the dog.” Mary took her cell from Ash’s offering hand and walked out with them. 

She smirked darkly at Chance’s annoyed look. Better the Devil you know, as they say. In this case, she knew Chance’s type. He was arrogant, and arrogance bred many things she could take advantage of. 

She only just managed to hear Aurora say, “I like her. She has fire,” before the door closed. 


	4. Harry Potter and the Ways of LA: Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS TOOK ENTIRELY TOO LONG TO GET OUT!!! I'M SORRY!!! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!

Harry looked down at his cell after hitting send. He was worried. He worried about his mother, about how long he had been out of it, about why the twins wouldn’t let him out of the bedroom. 

“I sent it!” He yelled to the twins. 

“Good!” One said. Harry though it might be Fred. 

“Just stay there with Seymour!” The other called. That one sounded kind of George-like. 

He put the phone down next to him on the bed and clutched Seymour close. What was happening outside him and mama’s room that was so troubling? 

 

The twins couldn’t believe the mess they arrived to. It was worse than what some of their old pranks did! They almost thought that one of their security pranks had triggered accidentally. That was when they looked closer. As far as they recalled, none of their pranks involved human bodies looking dead on the floor. 

A glance at each other told them that they had work to do. 

“I’ll look for Miss Mary?” Fred asked his twin. 

“I’ll find Harry.” George confirmed. 

Fred started looking in The Major Room, their name for Mary’s parents room. He didn’t stick around long, only looking so far as main hiding spots. He then looked in the bathroom before searching under the desk in the office. It seemed Mary wasn’t here, meaning they had walked in after something terrible. 

Fred hadn’t heard his twin come out of Miss Mary’s room, nor did he call out. Walking into the pink and blue room, the younger twin saw why. 

“It’s alright Harry. It’s me. It’s George. You’re safe now.” George said softly, holding the 8 year old’s hand at a distance. Fred, slowly and quietly, joined his twin in the calming process. 

 

That had been a few hours ago. Now, Fred and George were using the cleaning charms that their mother had taught them so they could help Miss Mary. George was cleaning the broken things, like glass and such, and putting them back. Fred was repairing the torn up pillows and furniture. 

It took a couple of hours and quite a few breaks for them to finish. By the time they were done, they heard a car pull into the drive. Peeking out the curtains, they saw a nice silver car pulling into the drive. Mary and two other men got out of the car, and the twins ducked. 

“Looks like they brought her back for something.” Fred whispered. 

“Should we hide? They might be dangerous.” George said. 

Fred paused. “Let’s tell Harry and wait for the code.” 

“She’ll say it if there’s trouble.” George nodded. 

They headed to the bedroom with Harry, just as the door unlocked. The two older boys motioned for Harry to keep quiet and listen. They heard the door open and a voice called out. 

“Boys, we’ve got company.” Mary called as the door closed. “Come say hello.” 

Before the twins react, Harry ran out to the main room. “MAMA!” 

 

On the ride there, Mary was mostly silent. Ash and Yoshimitsu were occasionally chatting about various unknown things. Mary wasn’t really paying attention. Her focus was on Harry. Harry still had the occasional panic attack during movies. She worried about how he would take all this. 

With a sigh, she realized that she really should have listened to Molly. The woman had told her, around the time they had first met, that she got a bad feeling from the older couple that lived with her. Mary, not sure, asked what she meant. Molly had explained that, due to their magic, magical being were more in touch with their instincts than the non-magical. 

“We’re here.” Ash’s voice called her attention, making her look up. 

They all got out of the car, pausing a moment before heading inside. “You know Chance has a reason for acting the way he does, right?” 

Mary stopped a moment. “Maybe, but that doesn’t excuse him threatening my son.” They left the conversation there, going into the house. 

“Boys, we’ve got company.” Mary called into the house. “Come say hello.” 

They were barely in the room before a voice yelled out. “MAMA!” 

 

Harry lunged at his mother. “Thank goodness you’re ok! I was so worried when I woke up! The twins were here, but you weren’t, and the twins told me to stay in the room while they cleaned! Where did you go? I-” 

“Easy, love.” Mary circled her little boy in her arms. “I’m ok. I’m safe now. I promise.” 

“Good.” Harry buried his head in Mary’s stomach, hiding the shaking in his body. 

Mary looked around, keeping a solid hold on Harry. Looking around she saw that the twins had cleaned up the house, though they had avoided the dead bodies. She didn't blame them. Mature or not- and the matureness of their actions was sometimes questionable- they were children who would be horrified by the dead bodies.

“Miss Mary,” Fred said. 

“We’re glad-” George began.

“-that you're alright-” Fred added. 

“-but what happened?” George finished, the twins coming over to hug her as well, shaken from their experience of appearing in the house to find it ransacked.

Mary hesitated. She didn't want to tell them she'd gotten kidnapped by a gang. It would cause problems in the long run with the kids trying to escape or causing a ruckus. It just wasn't worth it. So instead she hugged the three boys and gave a portion of the truth.

“My parents… apparently were involved in something bad. They ended up causing some people to come here. These guys saved me-” Mary turned to nod at her shadows who had mostly been silent. 

“Mrs. Molly was right?” Harry said sadly. 

Mary nodded at her son. “Go pack a travel bag. Twin’s grab yours. We have to stay at my friends’ place.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” the three boys said before running off. 

“Mrs. Molly?” Yoshimitsu asked. “Who’s that?” 

“The mother of the twins.” Mary said, sighing as she moved to pull the emergency bags from under the sink. “She’s always been good at reading people. Around the first time she met my parents, she said that she didn’t get a good feeling from them. She warned me that they were trouble.” 

It was then that Seymour ran out and put himself in front of Mary, blocking the two weapon specialists from her. His growling was deep as he held an aggressive stance. He didn’t attack, but didn’t approve either. 

“Good, boy.” Mary said grabbing his collar. “Down, now. Good, boy, Seymour.” 

Seymour subsided, staying close to Mary for a moment before blocking the way to the bedrooms where the boys were. 

“Good, dog. Great Dane?” Ash asked, eyes sparkling slightly. 

Mary nodded. “Harlequin. I got him from a breeder that sells guard dogs and therapy dogs. Seymour is one of the few that took both lessons successfully.” 

Yoshimitsu nodded, impressed. “Nice. Handsome too.” 

Ash walked slowly to Seymour, who stood at attention. “Easy, good  boy.” Ash knelt holding a hand out, palm down. “I won’t hurt anyone.” Seymour watched the man a moment before sniffing the offered hand. Seymour gave it a lick and laid back down. 

“Good sign.” Mary said. “Looks like a made a good choice to have you watch my kids.” 

Ash smiled. “Dogs tend to like me.” 

“Mama. I have my bag.” Harry said, walking out with two rolling backpacks. “The twins helped pack yours too.” 

The twins walked out after him. “Don’t worry.” Fred said with a grin. 

“We didn’t prank you.” George added. 

“This time.” Molly corrected. “Thanks boys. Let’s get to the car.” 

They all went outside, packing the car and locking up the house before driving off. It was 3am so none of the adults were surprised when the boys fell asleep, Harry sitting in the middle on his mother’s lap. When they got to the mansion, the boys and the bags were carried inside and put in Ash’s room. Mary slept with them that night. 

They wouldn’t wake until 10 the next day. 


End file.
